Cirrus' Portugal Summer
Preface: The doomed Lisbon tram
Stop 1: Lisbon
Stop 2: Óbidos
Stop 3: Coimbra
Stop 4: Porto
Stop 5: The non-glamorous central province
Leiria District: The non-glamorous central province
Portugal is about the same square mileage as Indiana. This is important because it means if you stay in roughly the middle of it, then the entire country is within day-trip driving distance, meaning you can go home in the evening.
Thus I found myself staying in
Leiria District, while motoring around to Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, etc. I never actually made it to Leiria city itself, spending my time in a city named Caldas da Rainha--"The Queen's Bath"--and a beach community named Foz do Arelho, where Obidos Lagoon empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
Let's hit
Caldas da Rainha first. Despite the grand name, it's a pretty utilitarian city. Nice density in the middle, but modern. If there's much of an old section, I didn't see it.
What I did see was the train station! Of course I did. Here it is!
Not bad. Shall we go in? Of course we shall!
Utilitarian.
Let's go to the platforms.
The tile's pretty.
The trains: Decidedly not glamorous.
Foz do Arelho beach, where Obidos Lagoon empties into the ocean, is a phenomenal family beach. It's also distinctly
local. Of course you can't tell from looking at someone, but we were the only
obvious tourists there. Anyway, you can pick either the lagoon side, with its utterly calm water and hilly view...
... Or the ocean side, with its slowly receding horizon and water that moves.
Foz is at 39° latitude. My home is Washington, DC is also at 39° latitude, straight across the Atlantic from this spot, more or less. Here I am, looking across an ocean towards my home.
The town is pretty but there's not much of a waterfront activity scene. Houses rise up the hills behind the beach quickly, with little room for shops or amenities.
So they've built amenities on the beach itself. A snack booth...
... a first aid station and library:
The lagoon is charming.
And that's pretty much it for my Portugal trip. Watch out for Paris threads sometime soon, because if you're going to fly across an ocean you may as well make multiple stops while there, and Paris is always a good idea.
Bye!
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